How Old is Too Old?

A question that has been raised by the performances of Tom Watson and Mark Calcavecchia in The Open at Turnberry who at 59 and 49 respectively could go on to become the oldest winner of a Golf Major. The record is currently held by Julius Boros an American who won the US PGA tournament in 1968 at the age of 48.

With the tournament at the halfway stage Watson is in the joint lead and Calcavecchia one shot back in third place. Both of these golfers have won The Open before but I doubt either if them expected to be heading the leaderboard as the tournament went into the weekend. Of course golf may not be as physically demanding as some other sports but even so skills and fitness do wane with age and the fact the record of oldest winner of a major has stood for more than 40 years tells its own story. Last year Greg Norman was in a good position to have become the oldest winner until the last few holes of the tournament when perhaps his age caught up with him but if that were to happen to Watson and Calcavecchia in the next two days there are a couple of 46 year ODs in Jimenez and Singh lurking only two shots back from the lead who could go on to win as well.

In recent years we have got used to most sports being dominated by youth but 2009 has seen something of a change in a range of sports from Cycling to Motor Racing to Rugby. Lance Armstrong came out of retirement to race this year's Tour de France at the age of 37 and after two weeks still has a very good chance of winning. The oldest winner to date of this great event was Firmin Cambot at the age of 36 in 1922 but even if he doesn't win but takes the yellow jersey at some stage in the last week he would become the oldest to do so. Another record that he could equal next Sunday in Paris would be Raymond Poulidor's feat of finishing on the podium 8 times but he'd have to keep racing for a few more years to equal Poulidor's record of finishing on the podium at the age of 40 in 1976.

In football's premier league Ryan Giggs won the player of the year as voted for by his fellow professionals. In comparison to the golfers and even Lance Armstrong he is a young pup at 35. This was the first time that he had won the award even though he has competed in premier league since it's inception in 1992. Another 35 year old who came to prominence in recent weeks was Simon Shaw playing for the British and Irish Lions. This was his third tour with the Lions and he had to play 18 matches before he got his chance in the test team but he certainly showed that age was no barrier with a man of the match performance in the second test and another strong showing in the final winning test. He has been rewarded with a place in the premier England squad for the next year and one would have to think that he must surely be a contender for a World Cup slot in a couple of years time. Unlike golf, football and rugby are far more physically punishing and very few players are ever still at the peak of their game at such an advanced age and still looking forward to more success in the future.

One other ageing performer making waves at the moment is Rubens Barichello in F1. He may not have won a Grand Prix this season but he is still very much in the title race and has no inclination to be the back-up driver to Jenson Button in the Brawn team as he showed by his reaction after the German Grand Prix last weekend. Barichello is 37 which by modern standards in F1 is old and he also has the distinction of having raced in more than Grand Prix than any driver in the history of the sport. Having said that he is still younger than Fangio when he entered the sport at its inception in 1950 and Fangio won his last World Championship in 1957 at the age of 46. Even in recent times both Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost were older than Barichello is now when they won World Championships in 1992 and 1993 respectively and he is only a year older than Damon Hill was when he won his title.

Another motor racer who is still showing that age hasn't dimmed his skills is Mark Martin of NASCAR who won a race earlier this season at the age of 50 and is still often to be seen at forefront of races.

What this shows is that whilst age catches up with your physical prowess some of its effects can be lessened if you have the drive, skill and talent even when you are in your fifties. I for one will be delighted if Watson or Calcavecchia win The Open as records are there to be broken - but I hope it won't be at the expense of a younger Brit!